Summary

• Defeating Nerissa on her way to self-discovery, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken sets itself apart with twist villain, mythology, and transformative ending.
• Leading the cast in a tale of family troubles, Ruby confronts her kraken lineage with power and strength, finding unity in the end.
• Ruby's journey from prom to kraken kingdom is a lesson in facing truths, breaking free from lies, and embracing one's unique identity.

recalls Disney's Luca, Turning Red, and The Little Mermaid (with a sprinkle of Mean Girls). It sets itself apart with a twist villain, mythology, and an ending that changes its world. Leading Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken's cast of characters is Ruby. All Ruby wants is to go to her ship-bound prom, but her mother Agatha (Toni Collette) forbids it. It's smooth sailing till Ruby's promposal lands her in the water, and she swells into a giant kraken.

She's not the only one. She hails from a line ruled by none other than her Grandmamah (Jane Fonda), making her heir to the kraken kingdom. Mad at her mother for keeping her in the dark, Ruby learns more about herself and befriends a mermaid, Chelsea Van Der Zee, despite being told mermaids are evil. They reclaim the powerful Trident of Oceanus, only for Chelsea to reveal herself as mermaid queen Nerissa. Only the combined intergenerational power of Ruby, Agatha, and Grandmamah can stop her for good, reconcile their family troubles, and let them finally live a truthful life among humans in Oceanside in the ending of Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken.

Does Nerissa Survive The End Of The Movie?

Nerissa indeed survives the battle at the climax. The movie's ending sees Ruby, Agatha, and Grandmamah laser-eye the Trident of Oceanus into sparkling dust. Without its power, Nerissa is shrunk back to her size as Chelsea. The force of the explosion blows her right to the boat of the sea monster-obsessed sailor Gordon Lighthouse, who promptly captures her in a cage. Nerissa's attempts to emotionally manipulate Gordon are no match for his excitement at finally succeeding in a monster hunt. Fittingly, Nerissa gets trapped as the price for telling harmful lies, while the truth sets Ruby and her family free.

Why Ruby Goes Into The Ocean

Ruby goes into the ocean to wrestle control of her life from Agatha. She decides she "can't keep waiting for answers" on how to be a giant kraken, answers that may never come from her tight-lipped mother. Only one person can help her, and that's the one other giant kraken in their family: her grandmother. Happy-go-lucky Uncle Brill, who appears after the pulse caused by her transformation, takes the headstrong teenager to meet Grandmamah.

Ruby gains an appreciation for all the things her mother kept from her—her giant bioluminescent kraken form, undersea life, and, upon entry to the Kingdom of the Krakens, Grandmamah. Like King Triton from The Little Mermaid, the Queen demeans humans as "hairy crust dwellers." This also sets up an interesting parallel to how Agatha only refers to the ocean as the place where monsters dwell. Like Agatha, Grandmamah attempts to steer Ruby's life in a certain direction: in her case, the kraken queen throne. Ruby leaves after the visit, but she returns to learn how to use her powers from Grandmamah and own who she is.

Why Ruby Ignores Agatha & Sets Out To Find The Trident

Ruby ignores Agatha, convinced that she knows enough about the history behind mermaids and krakens from Chelsea and has enough training from Grandmamah to chang the world with the Trident. When Agatha learns Chelsea is Nerissa's daughter (later discovered to be a pretense), she forbids Ruby from going into the ocean again. Ruby wants to know enough about her identity to take action for her family, and she perceives her mother's reluctance to involve her as her preventing Ruby's growth. From Agatha's point of view, she is saving Ruby from the pain Grandmamah put her through.

The Real Meaning of Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken's Ending

The movie explores the problem of hiding the truth—and hiding from it, even when it seems it's for a good reason. When Ruby asks if her family is ever bothered about lying to everyone about being human, Agatha brightly replies, "Oh, we're not lying. We're just omitting." After going full-blown kraken for the first time, Ruby learns Agatha hid her power from her ("Think of it more as a tiny omission.") She then learns another omission, Grandmamah, from her secret-leaking Uncle Brill and the fact that she is a princess.

Every plot point is driven by secrets kept from loved ones, even though the intentions behind them are good. Agatha wanted to protect Ruby and her family from the violence between krakens and mermaids that she herself had to face as a warrior princess. If Grandmamah had her way, she and Ruby would continue the conflict. She also prevented violence by keeping up the Canada lie to humans, who only know krakens as ship-shattering, man-munching monsters (a legend ed and spread by Gordon on his tours and livestream).

Ruby is guilty of lying as well. The film's events kickstart because she tries to go to prom behind Agatha's back. As she cowers in the dark library during her first transformation, she doesn't call and tell the truth to her mother for fear of the consequences. She hides her subsequent ocean visits to Grandmamah from Agatha, as well as her friendship with a mermaid. It's frustrating to watch the film require Agatha to apologize without having Ruby do the same. Still, their reconcilitiation at the end feels heartfelt: Agatha says, "...from now on, no more lying." Ruby adds, "And no more hiding."

With the whole world seeing the Gillmans—and krakens—for who they are, heroes, the family and species no longer have to hide from mankind. As she finally attends prom in a bioluminescent dress, Ruby's dual existence becomes one: she's neither "a human who turns into a kraken" nor "a kraken hiding as a human," but aa kraken who lives alongside humans. She out-swims the destiny others give her and makes her own, like her mother did by going on land. If there's one thing to take away from Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, it's to never hide the truth, from oneself, loved ones, or the world. It might just change everything.

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is streaming on Netflix.